CEB chairman, engineers' union wires cross forcing former's resignation

Anura Wijepala resigned as Chairman of Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) last week, because he could not support the Engineers’ demand, accepted by the Power and Energy Ministry, to place the utility’s Internal Auditor (IA) under the purview of its General Manager (GM), instead of the Board of Directors.

“It was against my conscience,” Mr Wijepala, an engineer and lecturer at the University of Moratuwa, told the Sunday Times. An IA, typically, “provides independent assurance that an organisations' risk management, governance and internal control processes are operating effectively. Taking it out of the purview of the Board of Directors and placing it under the GM, would have impacted negatively on the independ- ence of that role," he explained.

"It would have also created a precedent for other government institutions," Mr Wijepala said. However, the Ministry backed the demand of the CEB Engineers’ Union (CEBEU), and he could not comply.

Following his resignatio, Mr Wijepala wrote to the CEBEU saying, “…your shortsighted demand of asking for the IA to be under the administrative control, will bring all the CEB Engineers under public criticism and disrepute. As explained to you in many discussions, in all parallel organisations in Sri Lanka, the Internal Audit function is under the control of the Board and Audit Committee for its independence."

The former Chairman also said that many times he had raised his voice on behalf of the Engineers, ".. to protect the CEB and the Electrical Engineering industry of Sri Lanka, at the risk of displeasing the country’s President, Prime Minister and Ministers. Instead of backing him, the Union has opted to focus on petty issues.”

A CEBEU spokesman said they were aware that, taking the IA under the GM might give a wrong impression to society. However, the position was initially overseen by the GM, till a former Chairman took that branch, along with Legal, under his--and not the Board’s--purview. This was a dictatorial act, the spokesman said, and a violation of CEB practice. It was also against the CEB Act, which provided for both branches to report to the GM.

The GM is the most independent officer in the CEB, the spokesman claimed, adding that the Chairman was a political appointment. He said the CEBEU even had to intervene last year to stop Mr Wijepala from taking the Generation Planning Branch under him.

To ensure independence of audit, it must be handled by an external party, the spokesman continued. For that, the CEBEU would give its full support. “Even now, one officer from the Auditor General’s Dept is permanently in the CEB, and he can conduct an inquiry on any branch or officer, including the Chief Executive Officer or GM,” he said. External audit companies such as Ernst & Young, do periodic audits of CEB. If the Board so wished, they could use such a firm to conduct a special audit at any time, and the CEBEU would cooperate.